Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mr. E on March 21, 2012 at 1:53am

Okay, you know this question has to be asked.... Who's films overall do you enjoy going back to watch more? Big brother Ridley, or little brother Tony?

Don't count Tony out so easily. Yes, he's made some cornball flicks, but so has Ridley, and I think Tony has AMAZING style in his films, and like his big brother, when he's on, makes films that leave a long lasting impression. (True Romance, Crimson Tide, Days of Thunder, The Last Boyscout, & I can still enjoy Top Gun as well) I'm only naming some of Tony's films as I'm sure by this point in the Pod Cast Ridley's have all been gone over. 

So let's say HBO is showing a Ridley festival on one channel and a Tony festival on another, honestly, which channel are you going to watch more?

Oh, and I'm sure you already talked about it, but talk about Legend more...... Just do it you fuckers... I love that friggin flick.. :-)

Love the music:

Love the Dialog:

Love the whole friggin thing.. :-)

Permalink Reply by Mr. E on March 21, 2012 at 3:07am

See? All this "Legend" talk got me wondering if there was a Blu-Ray release yet, as I already have the special edition DVD that came out in 2002.

Turns out there is:

http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Ultimate-Edition-Blu-ray-Cruise/dp/B00...

But since Amazon has such shitty descriptions now days of the content on the discs they sell, and most of the reviews underneath are all in reference to the DVD release, and not the Blu-Ray, it got me wondering if the upgrade was worth it. So here's the review of the disc from www.thedigitalbits.com (Great fucking site by the way)

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviewshd/bdreviews061611.html

 

Blu-ray Review
Blu-ray Disc review by Tim Salmons of The Digital Bits

Legend: Ultimate Edition 1985 (2011) - Universal Released on Blu-ray on May 31st, 2011 Also available on DVD Film Ratings (DC/Theatrical): B+/B- Video (1-20 - DC/Theatrical): 14/17 Audio (1-20 - DC/Theatrical): 15/17 Extras (Overall): B+ "The dreams of youth are the regrets of maturity." Ridley Scott's fantasy outing, Legend, has always been a bit of a curiosity to me. On the one hand, it doesn't seem like anything that Scott would be a part of. But on the other hand... it does. It has his unmistakable visual style written all over it. Purely from a storytelling point of view, however, it feels like it's miles off course.

To his credit, Scott has always been a director eager to tackle different genres and put his own personal stamp on them. In the case of Legend, he was interested in making a classic Brothers Grimm type fairy tale. Legend is Scott's fourth feature film (preceded by The Duellists, Alien and Blade Runner). As such, in my opinion, it's a small treasure of a movie. It may not be as big or as impressive as the other jewels in his treasure chest, but it's invaluable nonetheless. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for makeup effects (courtesy of Rob Bottin) and cast a spell on young female viewers (courtesy of Tom Cruise), but Legend wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Like Scott's previous effort, Blade Runner, the film came under heavy scrutiny by its studio backers. Released at different lengths in different countries and with entirely different theatrical scores, it was a bit of a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people. At the time, Scott was still reeling from his previous financial failure (Blade Runner) and seemed more determined than ever to make something audiences would embrace. He didn't really succeed, but I don't discount him (or the film) for trying. It's certainly not perfect, but Legend has much more going for it. It certainly shouldn't being lumped in with other 80's fairy tale epics. The film looks fantastic, has some great characters (including Tim Curry's Darkness chief among them) and continues to thrive thanks to home video. In 2002, Universal released the Ultimate Edition of Legend on DVD, featuring a newly-discovered print of what became known as the director's cut (spearheaded by long-time Scott collaborator and DVD producer Charles de Lauzirika). Essentially, it was the European cut of the movie and dealt with the more sophisticated character subtleties (something that the U.S. theatrical cut was sorely lacking). On that DVD release was included both cuts of the movie and a small bounty of extras. Fans immediately embraced it and marked it as a very satisfying release. For this new Ultimate Edition on Blu-ray, fans may be slightly disappointed. To begin with, newly-included title cards before each version of the film contain text from Ridley Scott explaining why both versions look and sound so different. It's revealed that the director's cut of the movie only exists on a copy of its original print, or an "answer print." Due to lost elements, a pristine high-definition transfer from the original negative was just not possible. It's a shame, to be sure, but how bad could it possibly be? Beginning with the theatrical cut of the movie, you'll begin to notice right away the level of detail enhanced by the high-definition experience. Images are much more crisp and refined, color levels are a bit warmer and the contrast is consistently even. There's also a high amount of film grain in several areas, particularly in the brighter scenes at the beginning of the film. It's a bit distracting at first but becomes more refined and less harsh as the film moves along. The director's cut of the movie, as has already been mentioned, is a poorer-looking presentation than its theatrical counterpart. It's a much softer image, leaving film grain at a minimum but losing some of the visual detail too. It's also a much darker image, with a higher contrast to get the most out of the images. Colors aren't quite as lush as they could be, but they're still represented rather well given the circumstances. It most certainly will divide viewers about which film actually looks better, but from a technical standpoint, the theatrical cut is a much stronger and healthier image. The director's cut is still very watchable, but if you're looking for the better presentation, I'd say go with theatrical version. On the audio side of things, both cuts contain an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. I actually found the audio for the theatrical version to have more dynamic range, with a deeper resonance than the director's cut. Again, due to the lost elements, it's probably unlikely the latter can sound much better. In both versions, the score and sound effects seem to be more at the forefront of the mixes than the dialogue, making it sound weighted on one end. Everything is still discernable, but at times, the emphasis on envelopment seems much more important in the mix than what the characters are saying. They're both good tracks, but not quite as even as they should be. There are also three subtitle options included: English SDH, Spanish and French. In the extras department, nearly everything carries over from the previously mentioned Ultimate Edition DVD release. It starts with a great commentary from Scott himself, two lost scenes (the latter of which is reconstructed using audio, storyboards and stills), the Creating a Myth: The Making of Legend documentary, the Bryan Ferry Is Your Love Strong Enough music video, both the U.S. and International trailers, four TV spots and a photo gallery. There's also the option of listening to the score for the theatrical version by Tangerine Dream on an isolated audio track. Unfortunately, Jerry Goldsmith's score is STILL not represented this way in the director's cut, which could have been a great addition. Closing out the extras are BD-Live and pocketBlu options. For those looking to upgrade, you'll find the following not present from the original DVD release: the 3 animated storyboard sequences, the production notes (that help to provide context for some of the extras), the standard cast & crew bios and - most importantly - the DVD-ROM features which included a script-to-screen viewer. This is notable because the original draft of the screenplay and the shooting script were both included with that release. Not having them here is a shame, but that's how it is. Despite failing to recoup its expense at the box office, not to mention serious compromises to its narrative content, Legend has still been able to maintain a strong cult following. It was a strange step (or a misstep, depending on how you look at it) in Ridley Scott's career, but the film seems to have found its audience. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray doesn't quite live up to the expectations set by the previous DVD release, but it's still a decent upgrade in most respects. Tim Salmons timsalmons@thedigitalbits.com

 

 

Permalink Reply by Mr. E on March 21, 2012 at 3:13am

Ya.... I ordered it... ;-)

Permalink Reply by Mr. E on March 24, 2012 at 8:19pm

Huh? See? Commerce in action... :-)

Permalink Reply by Mr. E on March 24, 2012 at 8:22pm

Now I just need to exercise some more commerce and buy a better camera so all my pictures don't look that blurry and shitty. :-)

Permalink Reply by Mr. E on March 26, 2012 at 7:09pm

Just watched the Theatrical Cut on Blu-Ray. Haven't watched this movie in years. I forgot how much I love the Dwarfs. Some of my favorite lines that still crack me up:

"She was still alive when they killed me."

"I'm not as old as I used to be, ya know?"

"Terrible site for a sober man."

Love this flick. :-)

Permalink Reply by Cthulhu R'lyeh on March 24, 2012 at 1:32pm

Considering that Scott, one of the great visual directors of our time, started his career doing TV ads, don't you think it's rather silly that people like Bill Hicks call people who do advertisements non-artists?

Permalink Reply by Mr. E on March 24, 2012 at 8:52pm

Good question.... See Scrump? C is showing you up... :-)

Permalink Reply by Scrump Bolymeux on March 24, 2012 at 8:58pm

Hey, I'm contributing to the thread!!

Just... no questions...

Permalink Reply by Mr. E on March 25, 2012 at 12:38am

It's like they're all calling out to you Scrump.....

Scrump... Just ask a question about us, and we'll all be saved......

Scrumps answer?

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